Greg Krojac - The Schrödinger Enigma

Sitara had abandoned her Ramadan fasting, not through choice but by necessity. It was impractical to not eat during the day – nobody could be sure where the next meal was coming from – and practicality trumped religion in these circumstances. She was certain that Allah would forgive her; he knew what was in her heart and would understand that changes to how she followed her faith had been necessary. A long conversation with Roger Nelson and Jason had diminished but not erased the guilt that she still felt at having been instrumental in the spread of the pandemic. She sometimes wished that the Bering Sea had swallowed her up and taken her down to a watery grave, but obviously that hadn’t been Allah’s will. But had it been the will of Allah to sentence ninety-eight percent of the world’s population to a torturous death? Surely he couldn’t have wished that upon his children. What had they done to deserve that? It was becoming more and more difficult to reconcile the fact that Allah had allowed the Argons to send the plague to destroy humanity so cruelly. Jacob had said that Argons were also Allah’s children – had he really chosen them over mankind?

The survivors, those who weren’t on lookout duty, slept the broken sleep of those with troubled minds. Occasionally someone would awake with a start, escaping a nightmare. Others would continue sleeping but the twitching of facial expressions betrayed the dark thoughts and memories that were racing through their sub consciences. Mercifully, Jasmine’s mind protected her from these nightmares, allowing her the sleep of the innocent.

Jason opened his eyes without warning as a Marine shook him awake. He blinked three times and then saw Geeky standing above him.

“Jason. You need to come look at this.”

He followed the Marine into a perimeter office that looked out onto North Moore Street and beyond towards downtown Washington DC. The Marine pointed out of the window, handing his binoculars to the Brit.

“Look towards the Key Bridge.”

Jason did as he was told and almost physically felt his chin drop. Up to one hundred Argon warriors were gathered on the DC side of the bridge, preparing to cross from Georgetown to Arlington.

“Shit!”

The Marine pointed downwards.

“And look down there.”

A lone figure had just emerged from Gateway Park, part running, part staggering. Jason focused the binoculars on the figure, thankful that they were top-grade high-powered military issue. He took the binoculars away from his eyes before returning to look at the obviously frightened man. He’d seen the man before and audibly showed his surprise.

“I don’t fucking believe it.”

He handed the binoculars back to Marine Geek before leaving the small office and kneeling down alongside Enak. He shook the Argon awake.

“Enak. Enak, wake up. I need to show you something.”

Enak stood up and followed Jason to where the Marine was patiently waiting. The Marine handed the binoculars to him. Jason whispered.

“Look at the Key Bridge. The other side. That’s not good.”

Enak nodded.

“No, it is not good. News of what happened to the scavenger party has obviously got back to Argon Control.”

“Now pan down to the figure that’s just come out of the woods.”

“Where?”

“The road that we used to come here. The one that passes what used to be the hotel.”

“I see him.”

“That’s not an Argon.”

“You are correct in your appraisal. It is a human.”

“Take another look. Can you see his face?”

Enak focused the binoculars on the man’s face, realising what Jason’s next question would be, and understanding the can of worms that was about to be opened.

“I see his face and can identify him. It is the human that calls himself Triggs.”

Jason turned around and punched the door, hard enough to express his frustration but not hard enough to wake anyone else up.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Jason turned back to see the Marine and the Argon waiting for his next move. Marine Geek didn’t understand the problem.

“Who’s Triggs?”

Jason leaned against the wall of the office.

“We met him – I say met, but really we were attacked by him and his gang – when we spent the night at the Millers’ farmstead –“

“The Amish family?”

“Yes. The Amish family. Anyway, he and his mates turned up during the night with plans to rob the place and rape the women. Maybe even kill everyone. But they hadn’t reckoned on me, Enak, and Sitara being in the barn and stopping them.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. My instincts tell me he’s a no-good son of a bitch, and to just leave him there to his fate, but he’s still a human.”

Enak looked from the Marine to the ex-paratrooper.

“Indeed you have a problem. Empathy brings problems with it. And it is a problem that must be resolved quickly. The Argon warriors will not stay on the far side of the bridge forever.”

Jason pulled his body away from the wall.

“Wait here. I’ll be back in a minute.”

He disappeared from the room and quickly returned, flanked by Sitara, Samuel, and Miriam. Unsure of how the three newcomers would react to the news, he paced around the small room. He had to say something; he hadn’t brought them into the room to admire the view.

“There’s someone heading this way. A human.”

Miriam didn’t think twice.

“Then we must let him in.”

Jason pulled his lips tight.

“It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?”

“He could be working with the Argons. Could he be working with the Argons, Enak?”

The Argon shook his head.

“Argon warriors will see him as beneath them. They have no problem initiating deception, but it would be an affront to their honour, dignity, and courage to rely upon a traitor to beat their enemy.”

That was going to make the decision more difficult. Should they abandon the man to his fate, probably sentencing him to being ripped apart, or should they save him, potentially only putting off the same fate by a few hours, maybe only a few minutes? Samuel agreed with his sister.

“If he’s not with the Argons, then we have a duty to save him. A human and moral duty. We can’t just leave him out there to die.”

Jason knew that he had to bring up the elephant in the room, an elephant that only he and Enak knew about.

“You may change your minds in a minute.”

Sitara was in agreement with the Amish siblings.

“I agree with Samuel and Miriam. Human life is sacred, especially now. If we can save him, we must. We have to at least try.”

Normally Jason would have agreed with them, but – armed with additional knowledge – part of him knew that they couldn’t trust the man.

“The man is Triggs.”

Sitara was the first to react.

“Triggs? Are you sure?”

“Both Enak and I have identified him. It’s Triggs alright.”

Marine Geek interrupted them.

“You’ll have to make a decision quickly, or it’ll be too late either way. He’s getting closer.”

Samuel held his sister’s hand.

“I think Miriam should decide. After all, it was her that they were going to rape.”

Miriam glared at her brother.

“How can you leave it all up to me? I’m not going to live – if I carry on living – with that on my conscience alone.”

The clock was ticking by. A decision had to be made. It sounded callous, but Jason had a way to force a decision, one way or another.

“Rock, paper, scissors?”

Sitara and the Amish turned towards their friend. Sitara couldn’t believe her ears.

“Rock, paper, scissors? Are you seriously suggesting we should leave this decision to a game of chance? You’ll be suggesting rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock next.”